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Chapter 8:
Water From the North
the 1990s, Gov. Pete Wilson and President Bill
Clinton initiated an unprecedented collabora-
tion of state and federal agencies, as well as
urban, agricultural and environmental groups,
to develop a long-term solution that would
restore the Bay-Delta as both a reliable water
source and a healthy habitat for fish and
wildlife. This collaborative body became
known as the CalFed Bay-Delta Program.
In 2000, CalFed completed a comprehensive
management plan, which was embodied in a
Record of
Decision endorsed by state and
federal agencies.
In the decade since CalFed released its plan,
there has been intense conflict on how to
move water from, through or around the Bay-
Delta to users elsewhere. The state
Legislature created the California Bay-Delta
Authority to i
mplement CalFed’s plan. After the
release of an independent report by the Little
Hoover Commission that found CalFed’s plan
to be “costly, underperforming, unfocused and
unaccountable,” the state Legislature dissolved
the California Bay-Delta Authority and moved all
Bay-Delta-related funding to the Office of the
Secretary of Resources (later the California
Natural
Resources Agency). Meanwhile, popu-
lations of fragile species in the Bay-Delta con-
tinued to decline.
MILESTONES IN STATE WATER DEVELOPMENT
1930s
Central Valley Project proposed, but put
on hold because of lack of funds during
the Depression.
1937-
1940 Central Valley Project built by the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
1957
Feather River Project (State Water
Project) proposed.
1960
State Water Project approved by voters
(Governor Pat Brown).
1978
MWD delivered State Water Project
water from Northern California to the
San Diego region.
1982
Statewide referendum defeated
Peripheral
Canal portion of SWP.
1994
CalFed formed to resolve issue of trans-
porting SWP water through the Delta.
2000
CalFed published plan to fix Delta and
address challenges over the next 50
years.
2002
The state created the California Bay-
Delta Authority to oversee i
mplementa-
tion of CalFed’s plan, but CBDA had no
authority to regulate or coordinate the
state and federal agencies activities
required under the plan.
2004
Congress adopted the CalFed plan.
2005
Little Hoover Commission found
CalFed to be “costly, underperforming,
unfocused and unaccountable.”
2006
The Office of the Secretary of
Resources (now the California Natural
Resources Agency) absorbed CBDA
functions.
The Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, an
effort among state, federal, and stake-
holder groups, is a conservation
strategy ai
med at protecting species
of fish, plants, and wildlife, while
permitting reliable operation of the
State Water Project and Central Valley
Project. The BDCP includes aspects of
the CalFed plan.
2009
State Legislature adopted the Delta
Reform Act of 2009, which created the
Delta Stewardship Council to create a
Delta Plan that achieves the state
mandated coequal goals for the Delta
and dictated that the BDCP be
integrated into the Delta Plan.
2013
Administrative drafts of BDCP
released.